Machu Picchu is one of the most popular travel destinations for many. Almost every traveler wants to see and experience this wonder of the world with their own eyes once in their life.
Once on site, it quickly becomes clear why the hype around the Inca ruins is so great. Why thousands of people visit it every day. The Machu Picchu visit can be divided into three levels of difficulty.
Which one do you choose?
Most of the tours to Machu Picchu start from the breathtaking city of Cusco.
From here you can decide which level of difficulty you want to choose for the ascent of this wonderful ruin. As is often the case, you’ll also get the least for the easiest route.
You can choose between:
Easy: Board the train directly from Cusco and take an approximately four-hour ride on you towards Aguas Calientes. Here will be your stopover before finally going up to Machu Picchu.
Medium: Take a shared bus aka Colectivo and experience an unforgettable and authentic trip with other locals. The best place to get off the bus is Urubamba, from where you can take a cab or go on foot for a day trip to the Andean village of Maras, the Inca site of Moray and, as a highlight, the salt terraces of Maras. From here you can easily hike about an hour to get back to town.
In Urubamba you can recharge your batteries for the next day. The next day and full of energy, take a cab to Ollantaytambo, admire the ruins and take a Peru Rail train to Aguas Calientes in the evening.
Hard: Experience the whole adventure as intensively as possible by doing the Inca Trail on foot. This is a journey of several days from Cusco to the top of Machu Picchu. This is probably the most beautiful way to reach Machu Picchu. However, enough time and a good fitness must be planned for this.
If you chose the easy, or the medium option, you will end up in the town of Aguas Calientes. There is not really much to see here. Almost overcrowded with restaurants, hostels, hotels and other accommodation, you can relax here in peace or spend the night before the hike to Machu Picchu is on the agenda.
It’s best to book 2 nights here to relax and recharge your batteries before and after Machu Picchu. The hike up Machu Picchu is definitely most beautiful in the early morning hours for three reasons:
From Aguas Calientes, you can choose to take the leisurely route, hop on a small bus, or take on the adventure and climb hundreds of steps during a 1.5 – 2 hour hike. Of course, the more leisurely route is tempting. Also, while climbing the numerous steps, we thought several times that we should have chosen the easier option.
It is exhausting. It is painful. It is worth.
On the way up, several small buses pass you by. The people inside: Smiling. Relaxed. Happy. But we will never forget the moment when the top of Huayna Picchu was visible for the first time. And that after it was hidden behind low clouds for a long time. We are sure that you would also forget all the pain and fatigue at the beautiful sight.
These are the moments that fill you with pride for not having chosen the easiest path. After all, we only grow when we leave our comfort zone and face new challenges. Once you reach the top, get a stamp with the Machu Picchu emblem and put it in your passport. You’ll need to show your passport at the entrance, which you hopefully bought well in advance.
You can buy tickets for Machu Picchu online.
If you haven’t bought a ticket and your visit is coming up in a few days, we have some good news and some bad news.
The bad news first: You will most likely only see Huayna Picchu from a distance. Which is also quite nice. This is btw. the huge peak in the background that you see in all the pictures of Machu Picchu.
Now the good news: Tickets for Machu Picchu itself are available everywhere and relatively spontaneously. Walk through Cusco once and you won’t get rid of the offers.
Machu Picchu alone is worth all the effort. But if you want to top it all off, it’s best to book your Machu Picchu ticket with one for Huayna Picchu. While you can buy a ticket for Machu Picchu relatively spontaneously, you have to buy the ticket for Huayna Picchu months in advance.
It is important to know that the visit to Huayna Picchu is limited to only two groups of 200 people per day. So you have to decide if you want to climb Huayna Picchu between 07:00 – 08:00 or 10:00 – 11:00. Personally, we chose the first option.
After you already have a strenuous hike from Aguas Calientes up to Machu Picchu and then immediately after that you have to hike another 1.5 – 2 hours in the scorching sun, it can be exhausting. Well, it is. Now you have to decide. Do you want to see and enjoy the Inca ruins first, before the crowds of people arrive. Or do you not mind them and enjoy the view of the ruins after you come back from Huayna Picchu.
The way to the top of Huayna Picchu, like the hike to Machu Picchu, is up an incredible amount of stairs. We’ll put it this way: Incas had admirable buildings, but when it came to building stairs, they really weren’t professionals.
At the top you will enjoy an incredibly beautiful view of the surrounding mountains and the Machu Picchu ruins. Nowhere else can you see the ruins in their entirety as well as from the top of Huayna Picchu.
Just sit down and enjoy.
After you’ve had enough views for your memories, you can head back down to the Machu Picchu ruins to continue viewing the wonder of the world. Immerse yourself in the life of the indigenous people. Take a selfie with the llamas running around. Eat something delicious and just make the day something unique.
At the end of the day, you can take the bus from Machu Picchu or the many steps towards Aguas Calientes.
Personally, due to a Peru Rail delay the day before, we only had an hour of sleep before heading to Machu Picchu. We gave ourself the full program and went directly up to Huayna Picchu after climbing Machu Picchu. Without a break in between.
Beautiful. Exhausting. Beautifully strenuous.
So at the end of the day we were modestly said relatively flat and just wanted to take the bus to finally jump into bed in Aguas Calientes. Unfortunately, the Peruvians are not the best organizers. Therefore it can happen that you have the “luck” like us and only one counter is open to buy a bus ticket. So it means either waiting for hours for a ticket and the bus ride that comes with it, or hiking one last time and making your way down on foot.
Guess which option we chose?
The prices are per person, except for the accommodation, which we rent for 2 people.
Accommodation: $42 – $55 / night
Restaurant: $5 – $10 / meal
Train (from Ollantaytambo): $48 – $85 / return
Activity: $55 – $72 / event
